


State of Disarray

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen, Sentinel Bingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 10:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13611780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: Jim is called out to a murder scene





	State of Disarray

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2018 Sentinel Bingo challenge 'a state of disarray'

 

State of Disarray

by bluewolf

Jim plodded - there was no other word for it - up the stairs to the loft a little after 8pm.

His day had started just before 5am when he had received a phone call from Simon, calling him to a murder scene. Blair hadn't been able to go with him; he had a 9am meeting at Rainier he couldn't duck out of (though Jim was pretty sure he'd have liked to).

The body had been sprawled across a bed; a man who looked to be in his mid-forties, stabbed several times. The bedroom was in a terrible state of disarray, as if there had been a struggle - a lengthy struggle - before the actual killing. Either that or the killer had been searching for something and had simply thrown aside anything that wasn't what he was looking for.

Jim studied the scene carefully.

"That's odd... I wonder if he was the attacker."

"Why?" Simon asked.

"Look at the place."

Simon looked and shook his head as Serena Chang walked in. "Hello, Captain, Jim."

"Serena," Jim said. "Before you go any further - have a look around this place."

Serena looked at him, then obeyed. "Victim on the bed, blood... There's been a struggle... "

"There's one other point, Serena," Jim said.

Serena looked around again. "This looks like a woman's bedroom."

"Wha-" Simon stared from one to the other, then around the room. "Well, damn!"

"As I said," Jim repeated. "I wonder if he was the attacker, and the killing was self-defence."

"It's not impossible," Serena agreed.

***

A quick check was enough to establish that the female owner of the house lived alone, and also to establish where she worked.

"Who raised the alarm?" Serena wondered.

"It was an anonymous call," Simon said. "A woman's voice, right enough - just 'There's a body at - ' and the address."

"Okay," Jim said. "I'll go and see it she's at work, and ask her a few questions."

***

Connie Overton was indeed at work, and to Jim's sensitive eye, holding on to a very precarious self-control.

He decided to be abrupt, hoping it would shatter that self-control. "Who was he?"

She took a deep, gulping breath and collapsed in tears. "A... a neighbor," she managed. "He came to the door last night... asking if I could give him some milk, that he had run out... I invited him in, never dreaming... but then he grabbed me, pushed me into the bedroom... I had a paperknife on the bedside cabinet, and managed to grab it... I was just defending myself... "

"Obviously there'll need to be a full forensic check, but we thought that might have been the case - and honestly? Because you could identify him, I suspect that he would have killed you. Now, I'm afraid I have to ask you to accompany me to the police station so that you can give us a statement..."

And that, theoretically, should have been the end of it - but Arvin Wells turned out to have some influential relatives who took his death quite personally, and refused to believe that he could possibly have attacked anyone. It had resulted in a long and frustrating day.

In the end, Connie had been questioned again under a lie detector, which had proved that she was telling the truth. Then Jim had taken her home, where she packed a few things before moving into a motel where she would stay until her house was cleaned and a new bed delivered. Though, as she told Jim, she would probably move to a different address as soon as possible.

Jim plodded up the stairs to the loft a little after 8pm.

He opened the door to the welcome smell of a meal and his guide's voice singing softly.

Blair turned as the door opened. "Hard day?"

"Long day."

Jim washed quickly and sat down to enjoy a perfectly-cooked steak, not stopping to wonder how Blair had known when to start cooking it.

Blair smiled to himself. His own day had been frustrating, but he could ignore that - as long as his sentinel was finally relaxing.

 


End file.
